Internal-combustion engine



April 19, 1927. v 1,625,205

W. F. GRUMME.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July s, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 EXPLOSIONCOMPRESE ION WIT/ E88 v INVEHTOR I V/ILL/AMEGRUMME fl a I a ATTORNEYSApril 19,1927. 1,625,205

W. F. GRUMME INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed July 5, 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESS A INVENTUR :W/LL/A'M 1. GRUMME Patented Apr. 19,1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. GRUMME, or NEW Yonx, n. Y.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed July 3,

- periods thereof for improving the operation and the thermal efficiencyof such engine. The object of the invention is to provide a device ofthe indicated character which is extremely simple in construction and ofmaximum efliciency in operation. Other more specific objects will appearfrom the description hereinafter and the features of novelty will bepointed out in the claims. In the accompanying drawings, whichillustrate an example of the invention with- ,out defining its limits,Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation showing the invention in place upon thecylinder of an internal combustion engine; Fig.2 is a similar view withthe parts in a difierent position; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on theline 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line 44 of Fig. 2;Fig; 5 is a horizontal section on the line 55 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 is adiagrammatic view showin the invention applied to a multiple cylinderengine.

In its illustrated form, the device comprises a casing 10 of generallycylindrical form which is provided at its lower end with a reducedexternally screwthreaded neck 11 adapted to be screwed into the wall 12of the cylinder 13 of an internal combustion engine so as to establishcommunication with the combustion chamber 14 thereof.

nected in the customary manner with a crank shaft or other mechanicalelement to which mechanical motion'is' to be imparted.

The casing 10 is provided at its upper end with a main chamber 16adapted to contain water, gas, or other predetermined 'material, saidchamber 16 being connected by means of a tube 17 with a source of wateror other supply such as, for 'instance,'the cooling system of aninternal combustion engine; in the preferred arrangement the chamber 16is closed at its uper end by means "of a removable cap "16. which asshown may be in screwthreaded connection with the casing 10; the removalof the cap 16" makes the interior of the chamber 16 easily accessiblefor any purpose. An auxiliary chamber 18 is provided in the interior ofthe casing 10 at the lower end thereof 1925. Serial 1%.. 41,276.

and is separated from the chamber 16 by means of a wall 19 as shown inFigs. 1 and 2; the chambers 16 and 18 communicate with each otherthroughvthe medium of restrict-' ed passages 20 and 20 which for thepurpose of simplifying the construction may be ormed in plugs 21 and 21screwthreaded into the wall 19 from opposite directions. The inner endof the plug 21 is constructed and arranged in a manner to prevent thepassage 21 from being completely sealed for the purpose which willappear more fully hereinafter; thus cruciform slots 20* may be providedat the inner end of the plug 21 for this purpose as shown in Figs. 1, 2,and

4. The plug 21, on the other hand, is provided at its inner end with avalve seat 20- spaced from each otherto provide a valve' chamber 22 inwhich a ball or other. check valve 23 is movably located, said valve 23cooperating with the slots 20 and the valve seat 20 to control thepassage of water fromthe chamber 16 to the chamber 18 through t.--.-passages 20 and 20 in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter. Apiston 24 is slidably fitted in the auxiliary chamber 18 and may berovided with an enlarged inner" end 25 sli ably fitted in a secondarychamber 18 which forms a continuation of the chamber 18 but is sealedagainst communication therewith by the piston 24.

With this arrangement, an annular shoulder 26 is formed upon the piston24 and asimilar annular shoulder 27 dis-formed at the point ofconnection between the auxiliary chamber 18 and the secondary chamber18";

the shoulders 26' and 27 comprise abutments respectively for theopposite ends of a compression spring 28 located within the secondarychamber18 and exert' tending to normally force the lston 24 in adirection toward the combustion chamber 14. Any suitable means may beprovided for preventing the piston 24 from being forced out of thesecondary chamber 18 by the action of said spring 28; in the illusatension i trated example, this means is shown in the form of an annularmember 29 secured upon the inner end of the reduced neck 11 andprojecting into the path of the enlarged end 25 of the piston 24 asshown in Figs. 1 and 2 tea 2. The piston 24 is further provided with anaxially extending bore 24 of relatively small diameter in which the stemof a control valve 31 is movably located; the control valve 31 is shownof conical form and cooperates with a correspondingly formed seat 32formed at the inner end of the aforesaid bore 24. The stem 30 extendsbeyond the up )er end of the piston 24 and is provided with one or morechannels or gI'OOVGS 33 extending lengthwise of said stem 30 from itsupper-end to the valve 31, said stem at its upper end carrying a disc 34provided with apertures 35 and substantially fitting the auxiliarychamber 18 as illustrated in Fig. 1. A coil spring 36 bears with its oneend against the disc 34 and has its other end seated in a recess 37provided in the piston 24 at the upper end thereof as shown in Figs 1and 2; the spring 36 exerts a tension tending to normally maintain thecontrol valve 31 in a closed position against its seat 32 as illustratedin Fig. 1. To increase the efficiency of the device. an air vent 38 maybe provided for selectively establishimg communication between theauxiliary chamber 18 and the atmosphere, said vent leading to aninternally threaded valve chamber 39 in which a threaded plug 40 isadjustably mounted as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3; the plug 40 isprovided with an axial passage 41 which terminates at its inner end in avalve seat for the ball or other valve 42. The latter is prevented fromcompletely sealing the vent 38 by means of pins 43, which project fromthe inner end of the vent 38 toward the passage 41. The positionandoperative range of the valve 42 and the consequent admission of air isdetermined by the adjustment of the screwthreaded plug 40, it beingunderstood that normally the pressure of the water or its equivalent inthe auxiliary chamber 18 maintains the valve 42 in' a position to sealthe passage 41 as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and'3. To prevent the formationof an air. cushion in the secondary chamber 18*, air vents 44 may beprovided at diametrically opposite points in the casing 10 so as toestablish communication between the secondary chamber 18 and theatmosphere.

In the normal condition of the device, the chambers 16 and 18 eachcontain a supply of water or other predetermined liquid or gas or acombination of both, the quantitv contained in the auxiliary chamber 18being predetermined with respect to the requirements of theparticular'engine for which the device is designed. The check valve 23,by the pressure of the water or its equivalent in the chamber 16, ismaintained in position to close the channel against the cruciform slots.20 so that the passages 20 and 20 are in communication with each otherand the conmotion between the chamber 16 and the auxanon iliary chamber18 is consequently open as shown in Fig. 1; the control valve 31 isnormally held in its closed position, against its seat 32 by the actionof the spring 36, as

clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. As the engine piston 15 travelsupwardly during the operative cycle of the internal combustion engine,it will at a predetermined stage compress the combustion mixture in thecombustion chamber 14 in the usual manner; it will be understood thatthe spring 28 is of suilicicnt strength to prevent this compression ofthe combustion mixture from shifting the piston 24 in the casing 10 fromthe position shown in Fg. 1 of the drawings. As an explosion of thecombustion mixture takes place in the customary manner, the force ofthis explosion. in addition to actuating the p ston 15 in theconventional manner, is sufficient to overcome the resistance of thespring 28 and accordingly will shift the piston 24 upwardly in thechambers 18 and 18 to approximately the position shown in Fig. 2. Asthis occurs, theinertia of the control valve and its associated partsassisted by the pressure of the water contained in the auxiliary chamber18, which in effect will be counter to the pressure exerted by theexplosive forces upon the piston 24, will sub stantially fix the disc 34and with it the stem 30 and valve 31 against movement so that in effectthe piston 24 may be said to travel lengthwise of the stem 30. It willbe understood that the coil spring 36 is of such a type as to permit hisoperation, which consequently moves the control valve to an openposition away from its seat 32 as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.As soon as this takes place, the water in the auxiliary chamber 18 willpass through the apertures 35 of the disc 34 and through the channel 33into the combustion chamber 14. The charge of water thus injected intothe combustion chamber not only serves to cool the walls thereof, but bybeing almost instantaneously converted into steam by the heat of theexploded gases adds its expansion elfect to that of the aforesaidexploded gases and thereby increases the operative efficiency of theen--- 'l gine as well as its thermal effectiveness. As the describedupward movement of the piston 24 under the impulse of the force of theexplosion takes place, the check valve 23' is forced upwardly againstthe seat 20 at the inner end of the passage 20 and thus .closes saidpassage 20- to prevent any water or its equivalent from passing fromthechamber 16 to the chamber 18 during such time as the valve 31 isopen; in this way, flooding of the combustion chamber 14 is preventedand only the desired amount of water or its equivalent is injected intothe same. After the aforesaid explosion has occurred and water from theauxilary chamber 18 has been In ected into the combustion chamber 14,the spring 28 will restore the piston 24 to its normal position and atthe same time the spring 36 will return the control valve 31. to, itsclosed position against its seat 32. At the same time the ball valve 23will be returned to a position against the cruciform slots 20 andthereby open the communication between the passages 20 and 20 so that anew supply of water or its equivalent will pass from the chamber 16 tothe chamber 18 to constitute a new charge to be subsequentlyintroducedinto the combustion cham ber 14. The above mentioned operations aresuccessively repeated in operative sequence so that a predeterminedcharge of water or other predetermined liquid or gas is injected intothe combustion chamber each time the combustion mixture is exploded Ifthe amount of water or its equivalent which is being injected into thecombustion chamber 14 constitutes the proper and desired charge, theplug 40 will be adjusted to lock the ball valve 42 between the pins 43and the inner end of the passage 41 so that communication between thechamber 18 and the atmosphere is positively cut ofl. If, on the otherhand, too much water or its equivalent is being injected into saidcombustion chamber the amount may be cut down by adjusting the plug 40outwardly to a predetermined extent to permit the valve 42 to have apredetermined play between the pins 43 and the valve seat at the innerend of the passage 41. Under such conditions, each time the water or itsequivalent is injected into the combustion chamber 14, the suctioncreated thereby will draw the ballvalve 42 away from the end of thepassage 41 so that a quantityof air will pass into the chamber 18. As aresult of this the charge which is introduced into the cylinder will becomposed of a mixture of water or its equivalent and air so that theamountof water or its equivalent will be reduced to an extentcorresponding to the amount of air which is drawn in. It will be obviousthat the greater the amount of air which is admitted to the auxiliarychamber 18, the less will be the supply of water which is transferredfrom said auxiliary chamber through the passage 33 to the combustionchamber 14 each time the elements are operated in the mannerhereinbefore set forth. As the adjustment of the piston 24- under theeffects of the explosion takes place, a suflicient amount of the airwhich is contained within the secondary chamber 181 is forced outthrough the air vents 44 to prevent the formation of an air cushiontherein, a corresponding-amount of air being drawn back into saidsecondary chamber 18 as the piston 24 resumes its normal position.

If the engine in which the invention is embodied comprisesa multiplicityof cylinders, each cylinder will be provided with one of the novel waterinjecting devices; in such cases, as shown diagrammatically in Fig.6,'the main chambers 16 of the several devices may be interconnected byhaving the tubes 17 all lead to a pipe 17 which in turn is connectedwith a source of water or other predetermined liquid or gas.

The device is extremely simple in construction and comprises a minimumof parts easily put together and easily accessible without the necessityfor any skilled attention. The device in itsoperation serves tomaterially increase the effective stroke of 'the piston and preventsdecline of pressure which follows the ignition of an ordinary explosivecharge. The device serves to convert a considerable portion of heatevolved into energy for the double purpose of increasing the efliciencyof the engine and for eliminating a certain proportion of the evolvedheat which is thus converted into energy and transmitted to themechanical element being driven by the engine;

In addition to its other advantages the device, in practice, acts toprevent carbon formation and deposits in the cylinders.

Various changes in the specific form shown and described may be madewithin the scope of the claims without departing y from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim:

1. A device for injecting a predetermined fluid into the cylinder of aninternal combustion engine, comprising a casing mounted upon the enginecylinder in communica tion with the combustion chamber thereof, saidcasing having an internal fluid chamber, a piston movable in said casingby the explosion forces of the mixture in the combustion chamber, andextending into said internal fluid chamber in the form of\ a plunger;said piston having an axial bore whereby communication is establishedbetween said fluid chamberand the combustion chamber, a valve stemmovably mounted in the axial bore of said piston and projecting beyondthe upper end of said bore into said fluid chamber, said valve stembeing arran ed to permit a flow of said fluid therethroug a valve at thelower end thereof,said stem controlling the inner end of said bore and aspring eflective to maintain said valve in its closing position and toreturn it thereto.

2. A device for injecting a predetermined fluid into the cylinder of aninternal combustion engine, comprising a casing mounted upon the enginecylinder in communication with the combustion chamber thereof, saidcasing having a main fluid chamber and an auxiliary fluid chamber spacedapart and connected with each other, a check-valve in the connectionbetween said two chambers, a piston slidably fitted in vsaid auxiliarychamber and movable by the explosive forces of the combustion mixture,said pis- .ton having a reduced axial bore whereby by said piston andcooperating with said seat to control the flow of fluid through saidpiston bore and a spring effective to maintain said valve against saidseat and to return it thereto.

3. A device for injecting a predetermined fluid into the cylinder of aninternal combustion engine, comprising a casing detachably connectedwith the engine cylinder and having an internal secondary chambercommunicating With the combustion chamber thereof, said casing furtherhaving an auxiliary fluid chamber and'a main fluid chamber connectedwith each other by means of restricted-passages having their opposedends spaced apart and terminating in and communicating with avalve-chant her, a check-valve in said valve-chamber cooperating withthe opposed ends of said passages to control the flow of a fluid fromthe main to the auxiliary chamber, a piston slidably fitted in saidauxiliary fluid chamher and having its inner portion slidably fitted insaid internal secondary chamber, said piston having a reduced axial borewhereby communication is established between said fluid auxiliarychamber and said combustion chamber, a va1ve-seat at the inner end ofsaid bore, a stem slidably mounted in said piston-bore and channelledreaaaoa lengthwise to permit a flow of fluid through said bore, acontrol valve at the inner end of said stem cooperating; with saidvalveseat to control the flow 0 f fluid through said piston-bore, aperforated disc at the outer end of said stem and movable thereby insaid auxiliary chamber, a spring effective upon said disc whereby saidcontrol valve is maintained on and returned to its seat and a secondspring eflective upon said piston for maintaining it against movementduring the compression stroke of the engine and for permitting saidpiston to yield under the explosive forces of the combustion mixture.

4:. A device for injecting a predetermined fluid into the cylinder of aninternal combustion engine, comprising a casing mounted upon the enginecylinder in communication \vith'the combustion chamber thereof, saidcasing having an internal fluid chamber, a piston slidably fitted insaid casing and having an axial bore whereby communication isestablished between the fluid chamber and the combustion chamber of theengine,

and a valve carried by said piston and controlling the flow of fluidthrough said axial bore, said piston being moved in said casmg by theexplosive forces of the combustion mixture and said valve by itsinertia, remaining stationary relatively to said piston and beingthereby adjusted to an open position to permit fluid to be injected intosaid combustion chamber, said valve partaking of the movement of thepiston as soon as the inertia has been overcome.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM F. GRUMME,

